Average
by Teacup Erinyes
Summary: Shikamaru has always wanted that average girl. What happens when the genius of Konoha realises what has been in his team for the last 3 years may be exactly what he needed? May become more mature if i get bored. ShikaTen
1. Listener

**AN: I decided that these were my two fave characters and I was short on ideas for my usual pairings, so I am just experimenting a bit. **

**Possibly slightly inspired by the Shikamaru cosplayer who glomped me at London expo because, and I quote "I love Tenten, she's my favorite". Hai, I was in Tenten cosplay, he wasn't psychic I don't think. If you are he, please review so I know you read it. **

**It is crack, but I think it is very justified. Nobu will emphasize my point in the next chapter in conversations. The title explains it a little- use your brain y'all.**

**It's random, it's due to be colorful, it's yours to enjoy…**

**Disclaimers apply as usual.**

Average- Listener

"You are tired" Shikamaru pointed out as he sat down beside her.

She kept staring up at the sky, absent mindedly re-wrapping her injured leg in its bandage while she spoke. "Everyone is tired sir"

He nodded "Hai, but you did bare the main brunt of the fight. You can go inside if you want, I'll cover you."

"I can't have that sir. I can complete my duty no matter what my state is. I don't need your charity"

He sighed, desperately trying to restrain the drawled 'mendokuse' that came to mind at her offence. Oddly enough though, she didn't seem upset or angry at him; everything she said was delivered with a clear, polite voice which was in no way hard on the ears. "It's not charity. I couldn't sleep so I didn't mind if you wanted me to take the watch, or… whatever"

It took her a while to answer, and he began to look up at the sky himself, falling back so that he could lie down for a better perspective. He began to lull himself into a relaxed state, knowing that the mission had gone flawlessly and there was no chance of ninja tracking them to their current position. It didn't mean that he was getting lazier, as he was always alert in case enemy ninja from elsewhere sensed their presence, but it meant that there would be no half beaten and furious s-class ninjas tracking them for revenge.

The ANBU group had spilt into three man cells in their route back to Konoha, covering more ground and diverting the trail just as a precautionary measure, not really because they thought they might need it. Shikamaru's third team member, Nobu, had taken the first watch and had been sleeping hard from the first second his head hit earth over two hours ago. In truth, it was the tall man's snoring that had kept the ANBU captain from sleeping, but that didn't really matter to him.

The firelight flickered out amongst the trees, casting streams of light over the two figures that both lay in simple ANBU uniforms, but without the outer armor and masks. For stealth and anonymity, Tenten had forgone her previous hair styling, opting now for a simple high ponytail which reached just below shoulder level, her bangs long enough now to brush against her cheeks. She had never been vain, always choosing the practical and comfortable over the attractive, so it was no surprise that she didn't even flinch with the number of cuts to her uniform and bruises on her own skin she currently displayed.

Shikamaru was much the same, black shirt frayed and pulled from snags, although this was more from lying on his back than from hand to hand combat. His jutsu worked best at a mid distance from the opponent, whereas Tenten preferred to be much more hands on, resulting in most of her injuries that could easily be avoided. She just seemed to get such a rush from it that the damages she did to herself were worthy collateral according to her theories.

The first time they worked together in ANBU, she had taken a gash to the stomach with a Katana, losing a lot of blood and slumping to the floor, the enemy towering above her ominously. His immediate thoughts had been towards guilt, feeling as usual that it was his plans failing to protect her, so he ran to help her. Before he had even had time to reach her though, she had pressed a hand to her bleeding stomach and risen to a crouch, kicking up with one leg to slice through the ninja's throat with a hidden blade in her toe cap. The man, who was easily three times her weight and strength, fell limply to the ground but she still didn't move from her crouch.

Shikamaru came closer, breaking out of his reverie to offer her a hand up in concern. He was soon more concerned with the fact that she was giggling when she looked up at him, in much the same way that Ino did when she saw Sasuke.

"_Are there any more?" she asked him with a smirk_

"_No Tenten; that was the last." He frowned at her blood soaked top "You need medical attention"_

_She followed his gaze as though she hadn't even noticed the injury and laughed again before telling him one of her favorite mottos "I'll be fine; if I didn't get injured, I can't have been trying hard enough. It just proves I'm alive."_

_Then she passed out._

Her courage had shocked him then, and he was determined that she was just insane, but having fought beside her now for over 3 years he had learnt to respect and trust her to know her own limits. The deadly accuracy of her weapons and his mind combined made them a razor sharp team, and since that first few missions, there had rarely been a time when they were given two consecutive missions without each other's presence.

Still, they kept everything business, and could barely even be regarded as acquaintances never mind friends. She still called him 'sir', and neither spent any time getting to know each other. They had both lost teammates already in the field and decided that attachments only hinder judgment and cause grief. It was this of many reasons, which caused them to never have a solid third team member. Nobu had been with them for only 5 months and was already the longest standing third they had had.

Shikamaru, lost in his reflections, was quite startled when she spoke again, her voice soft. "I'm not tired. I'd rather sit and watch the stars"

"Nani?" he sat up a little to gaze up at her in interest.

"It's not often I get a chance in Konoha. It's nice just to relax, you know?" she didn't smile, but a glint of reflected starlight told him how tranquil she was, and he knew exactly what she meant.

"It's the stillness" he responded, looking up with her "Everything in a town is moving and busy, but out here, you can sit and stare at nothing. It gives you a chance to think in the quiet"

"Also; they're shiny" she shifted her eyes sideways to meet his in delight

He exhaled sharply, his only sign of amusement, and nodded. "That too"

"Do you do this often sir?" she wondered out loud

"Do what often?"

"Stare at the sky"

"All of the time… or whenever I can get free more precisely. Do you?"

She nodded back "Since I joined Team Gai. When Neji started lecturing on 'fate' sometimes it was all I could do without going mad to stare at the sky. Then with Lee…"

"You miss them" he observed, scanning her facial expressions.

She faced the fire to hide her face, fiddling with her bandages again "Don't you miss your team?"

"Of course I do, but I live with Choj and Ino is impossible to get rid of, so I don't really have that much to miss." He sighed "It's been a long time since we lost Asuma-sensei and I guess we've recovered a lot, but I do still look up for him at times, for advice. He's part of us all."

"I didn't know you lived with Chouji sir. You still all talk?"

"Hai, we are inseparable" he smirked sideways

"I wish that was the same for us. We were never one team; Lee and Gai-sensei were a team on their own and Neji and I were just their anonymous others most of the time. Once Neji joined ANBU, after Lee died, we just broke apart." She awkwardly picked up a stray piece of twig and threw it back into the flames thoughtfully "I talk to Gai-sensei occasionally, but he never forgives himself so it only makes me cry."

Shikamaru dropped his expression. "I find it hard to believe that you cry Tenten"

"Hai well… I'm not as tough as I am on missions all of the time"

He blinked in realization and sat back in slight alarm. "Does it strike you that this is the only time we have ever talked to each other about non-ANBU related issues?"

She looked back at him, obviously trying to cast her mind back over the last 3 or so years before her eyes went wider. "You are right. That's quite shocking."

"That I'm right or that we haven't spoken?" he smirked again and leant back on the ground.

She rolled her eyes before lying down beside him, leaning up on one elbow to face him. "We should talk more often sir, you are a good listener"

"Sure," he shrugged "just stop calling me sir, I'm not royalty"

"No, but you're my team captain"

"Still, it makes me uncomfortable"

"Alright… how about this" she smiled "If I promise to call you Shikamaru in future, will you promise that we can go sky watching sometime when we get back to Konoha?"

"Of course, I've never had anyone to lie with…" he stopped himself quickly "that sounded wrong"

She laughed lightly and moved onto her back to stare back at the stars "it's ok, I know what you meant"

"You did well today. I didn't get into a panic attack once" he remarked after a few minutes of staring blankly at the sky.

"I must try harder then." She joked

"That's really not funny"

"Well to be fair, I think Tsunade-sama sent a few more of us for back-up than was really necessary. That guy was a push over; seriously, I think most of my bruises were from my own slight lack of practice."

"I still don't see why you insist on using things like nunchaku that just cover you in bruises when you are more than proficient with other, more effective weapons."

"I do that, _because_ I am more than proficient with other weapons. I need to practice more with things I'm not so good at I order to get better. Then, I can use almost anything as a weapon if needs call for it, and have an in depth knowledge of the best way it can work with my body to work it to my advantage."

"It's an interesting approach"

She laughed again "you stopped listening, didn't you?"

"I got the general impression of what you were saying." He smiled back, knowing that he listened to every second, just feeling a need to wind her up anyway.

"How long do we have before we have to wake the dragon?" she asked, pointing back towards the tent.

He raised an eyebrow at her "Why do you ask? Am I boring you already?"

"It's taken 3 years…" she teased "but no, not yet. The sun is coming up"

"We need to wake him now then"

"No need to interrupt the touching moment cap'n" A voice came from behind them and they whipped their heads around to glare at him.

"Are you ready to move out Nobu?" Shikamaru began to stand up

"I don't get breakfast?" he protested

"No, that's what you get for smart ass comments. We should be in Konoha tonight so we'll stop for lunch and to give Tenten's leg some rest" he paused only to stop Tenten from protesting "that's the final decision Tenten, I don't care how high your pain threshold is, I'm not getting another lecture from miss high and mighty if I can help it. So we'll stop then for something to eat, only briefly, and then keep going till we reach Konoha."

He knew it sounded harsh, but in the end he was their captain and as friendly as he could be, he wasn't a push over. Usually it was Tenten who cracked the whip on whoever was acting as their third teammate, but in her current reluctant attitude, she would probably rather have stayed lying under the stars for the rest of the night, and then watch the clouds all day afterwards. She never struck him as lazy, but unless something poisonous was stuck inside that leg wound of hers, she was definitely a lot looser with her personality on this mission that he couldn't understand.

"The other teams will be back by lunchtime…" Tenten grumbled under her breath but went off to start putting her armor back on without another word as the others went inside the tent.

**AN: feedback pleshies. **

**As with all of my stories: I have Three big rules…**

**RULE 1: If you don't like it- give me **_**constructive**_** criticism, not just 'I don't like this', or don't say anything at all**

**RULE 2: If you do like it, review, show the luff**

**RULE 3: If you do, or you are even not sure, go and visit my writing website: www . freewebs . com /belizma-kelli (delete spaces)**

**Stay shiny and show the luff**

**Belizma-chan**


	2. Joker

**AN: I think this helps to concrete my justification in this being a valid couple. Sorry it took so long to update.**

**Disclaimers apply as usual.**

Average- Joker

Nobu sighed as the group came to another stop. He was eager to get back to Konoha as soon as possible, seen as the mission they had just completed was a quite big one. The success would mean that the parties tonight would be the best in ANBU ranks for a long time, and if they were not back in time, he would miss half of the fun.

Slumping down beside a large tree in the centre of the clearing, he watched the other member of his team.

"Tenten, you need to clean off before we get to Konoha." Shikamaru pointed out without any tact at all, focusing on his pack "There's a river tributary just passed those trees."

She nodded with a slight scowl and made her way through the trees in the direction that he had nodded in.

Nobu couldn't help but to scoff at him "Dear Kami, you aren't aiming for any awards in flattery are you?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked nonchalantly as he sat down beside him.

"'You need to clean off'? It's no wonder you don't have a girlfriend"

"It was valid." He shrugged "She should be in a better state when we return to Konoha. Otherwise she will only get nagged for being careless and sent straight to the hospital."

"Rubbish, you are just worried that _you'll_ get nagged for letting her get like that again"

He looked over to signal that he really had no idea why Nobu was making such a fuss "So what?"

"So you are 21 years old and haven't even had a date yet. If you don't learn to drop a few compliments here and there to your teammate, how do you expect to do it with other women?"

"I do compliment Tenten"

"On her fighting"

"So?"

"What if you fall in love with a civilian?"

"Then I'll deal with it when I find that person"

The conversation shut off there, Nobu deciding that it was obviously not going to make a difference what he said to him. _Shikamaru is Shikamaru, there's nothing that can be done to change that. _The two men sat in silence as they ate a brief meal using up the last of the mission's rations, but as he began to wonder exactly what the younger man does with his life outside of ANBU, it didn't take long though before Nobu's attentions were drawn back.

"What is your taste in women anyway?"

"Taste in women?" Shikamaru looked up at him in curiosity

"Yeah, you know; like hair, eyes, figure, personality… what gets you interested in a woman?"

"I don't have too many preferences in that" he half smirked and looked away

"You must have some idea of who you want to end up with" Nobu pushed, determined not to let this conversation end as abruptly as the last

"Sure,"

"What then?"

"Average"

Nobu frowned in frustration "You aren't making any sense"

"I mean average." He repeated in exactly the same tone "Someone who's not too pretty and not too ugly, not too smart but not too dumb, not too bossy but someone who can look after themselves… just someone average; not too troublesome in any way."

"You haven't set your sights _that_ high then" he scoffed sarcastically

"Don't mock me. She's proving harder to find than I thought. All women are troublesome."

"That is such a misogynistic thing to say"

"Not really. I am not saying that as a stereotype, just as a general observation from personal experience. I have never encountered a woman who hasn't proven to be troublesome in one way or another."

"Hmm… let me think for a while…" he began to plot to himself, finger held over-dramatically against his chin "so you want someone 'average'. Not too pretty… that would rule out two thirds of Konoha at least. There are plenty of plain looking women, but they do tend to have personality complexes; like being angry because they are short or something. I guess if you want someone who can look after themselves, you probably mean that they are a decent fighter, right?"

"I guess" he grunted, staring up at the sky in an effort to ignore him

"So they would probably be kunoichi, and a good one, but not one of the best. Might be ANBU, but they'd have to be mid rank or lower if they aren't too smart. Probably quite obedient judging by your personality, so they would be good at taking orders; but possibly won't always be happy about it. That narrows it down a lot I'd say. If we go with the ANBU theory, finding someone who isn't too pretty should be easy as the outstanding lookers tend to have their applications turned down due to lack of stealth"

Shikamaru had stopped listening a while ago, letting Nobu entertain himself for a while, while they waited for Tenten to return.

He did notice though, when Nobu stopped speaking, and looked over at him with wide eyes and a slightly devious smirk.

"What?"

"You are an idiot" he laughed under his breath

"Excuse me?"

"Did it ever occur to you that if you want someone like that, who didn't stand out in any respect, you wouldn't even know if you had found her?"

He was becoming more and more irritated by the man every second "Explain yourself more clearly"

"You might already know her, and you'd never notice her because she would never attract your attention in any way. You are far too lazy to go out and_look_ for someone who sinks into the background."

"So, I'm not changing my opinion"

"I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that _you_ need to make a more conscious effort to look for her"

"Look for who?" Tenten asked as she returned, overhearing the end of their conversation as she tightened her damp ponytail.

"Shikamaru's girlfriend" Nobu grinned widely

"You have a girlfriend sir?" she looked over knowingly to Shikamaru, having figured out that Nobu was only trying to wind him up and it was obviously working "You never said"

"Not yet. We're talking about the girl who is going to become his girlfriend within the next week or I swear that I will paint the word 'Baka' in big bright letters on my ANBU mask"

"You are insane Nobu" he glared

"I get the feeling that this conversation started somewhere different, am I right?" Tenten asked innocently

"Where did you get that impression?" Nobu stopped grinning and turned to address her properly

"Well Shikamaru looks pissed off so it can't be that he told you he fancied anyone in particular"

"No, I was trying to figure out what his taste in women was"

She raised an eyebrow as she sat on a nearby fallen tree "Really? This should be a laugh…"

Nobu took that as his cue and went to sit beside her "We've narrowed it down to a kunoichi, mid rank ANBU, good at taking orders but not docile at it, not too pretty, and I'd reckon she'd be brunette and about his height aswell."

"That's quite accurate"

"Hai and I think she'd probably share his sarcastic sense of humor too, otherwise she would never put up with him."

"Why a brunette?"

Shikamaru wondered along with her, having never thought much into it

"Other hair colors tend to stand out too much." Nobu explained "Being one himself, he'd probably consider brunettes pretty average. The height thing goes along the lines that he wants someone average to him, not to everyone, so it won't be anyone taller, or shorter than him."

Tenten looked back over at Shikamaru "The average thing huh? I thought you grew out of that"

"How do you know about…?"

"Ino" she stated, before he could finish

"Right…" he sighed heavily

"She really likes to talk about you"

"I know"

"Another one on the troublesome list?" Nobu pried

"One of the first" he told him, then pulled his pack back on, standing up "Right, that's enough chatting; let's get going."

"What about you Nobu? What kind of girl do you like?" Tenten asked as she began to stand aswell

He smirked and pulled her back down into his lap "Are you flirting with me Ten-chan?"

She didn't give him the satisfaction of a reaction; simply pushing herself up off him and fetching her own pack "No, I just think it's only fair that if you are going to interrogate Shikamaru's dating habits you should share too"

"Well, I'm not even half as fussy." He bragged as he joined them "If she's pretty and has all the right parts, I won't turn anyone down. I do like long haired blondes though, if I have the choice, something about them makes me think of movie stars."

"Fair enough"

Nobu was enjoying the banter, so as they moved off towards Konoha again, he hung back to walk along side Tenten "How about you?"

"Me?" she seemed slightly stunned that he would even ask

He laughed "Yeah, you. I've never seen you about with guys. That is, if you are into guys… I'm not judging."

"No, I'm straight, and I've had boyfriends… they just don't last long"

"Why not?"

"A number of reasons. The usual is just that they use me as a stepping stone to more attractive merchandise. If it's not, it's that I get bored of them. I have an ideal, but I can never track down a type that I go for at the moment."

"What's your ideal then? Describe your ideal man."

"You sound like Ino." She rolled her eyes "Fine… looks, I'd say dark hair, dark eyes. Not too over fussed in the appearance though, I hate vain guys. I wouldn't like anyone shorter than me I think; it would just give me neck ache. Generally practical and intelligent; he'd work hard when it matters, but know how to relax. He'd definitely be a skilled ninja, probably ANBU, someone who would help me to improve my own skills. Family committed too; I'm fed up of flings, I'd want a half decent long term relationship for once."

"Whoa, you do have an ideal, don't you?"

"Sure, but as I say to Ino, no one gets their perfect man, it just doesn't work that way."

"I reckon I could fine you someone."

She continued to humor him "Oh really? I didn't know you fancied yourself as a matchmaker"

"Yeah well, as I said, I'm not fussy. I like a challenge."

"Well I'm not really in a rush or anything, so don't go putting a one week limit on me or something"

"Oh, come on." He mocked "If I can do it for Shikamaru, with his eclectic taste in women, I can surely do it for you."

She laughed along "Hai, I am quite standard when it comes to my tastes."

His eyes shot wide as realization dawned on him with her words. _Standard…? Dear Kami… they are both idiots…_

One average brunette mid rank ANBU who follows orders with a sarcastic wit… check…

One dark haired, dark eyed practical and intelligent ANBU who knows how to relax… check.

"Um… guys?"

They both turned to glare at him, causing him to realize that they were also the same height. His smile grew even wider as he decided not to tell them, to just leave them to work it out for themselves, only vaguely conscious of his deadline. _Wait, no, I only have to find them someone by next week. My jobs already done…_

He smirked to himself "Never mind. Let's just get back to Konoha"

**AN: feedback pleshies. **

**This chapter was more like my novel "The Letter A", in the way that it reads like a script at times. My dialogue with characters like Nobu is always better than the description. I think this is going to become a literary point now in this story. Those scenes between Tenten and Shikamaru are going to be more poetic in the description than those with my OCs and other characters. **

**RULE 1: If you don't like it- give me **_**constructive**_** criticism, not just 'I don't like this', or don't say anything at all**

**RULE 2: If you do like it, review, show the luff**

**RULE 3: If you do, or you are even not sure, go and visit my writing website: www . freewebs . com /belizma-kelli (delete spaces)**

**Stay shiny and show the luff**

**Belizma-chan**


	3. Cadger

**AN: long time, no update. Apologies and blah. Another OC here, this time based off my sister's own OC, Suzume. Her name means Sparrow, which is what my sister calls herself due to her tendencies to slip into a perfect imitation of Johnny Depp, entirely by accident. Suzume is only like her in terms of appearance, and the bi-polarness, nothing else. **

**So yeah… enjoy.**

**Disclaimers apply as usual.**

Average- Cadger

Having escaped as quickly as possible from the hell that is Tsunade's mission debriefings, Tenten sped off to find her apartment where, hopefully, a tepid shower might be waiting for her, provided that it hasn't exploded, or clogged, or the heating has gone into overdrive again and she scolds herself getting in. No hopes lie in finding some stale bread to gnaw on either, so as soon as she was out of her ripped and sweaty ANBU gear, she would have to find a friend to scrounge off._Perhaps I should visit Gai… he has food…_

Putting it to the back of her mind that she had just considered taking food from an invalid she continued on her path to her run down, pathetic excuse for an apartment. It was the same place she had lived since her parents had moved away, back in her early chunin days; low rent, very little space, basic needs only. Most of the other ninjas her age had moved on into better accommodation, some rooming up to save money, but not Tenten. She had never moved on, and it was nothing to do with sentimentality.

Shoving a senbon in with her key to force the lock to work and giving her door a good kick, it only took a few minutes to get inside of the small building. The others that stayed in the house didn't often stay for long and so none were permanent neighbors for Tenten so she didn't particularly care about causing a noise as she entered the hall area. Her room (it couldn't really be classed as more than a bedsit) was on the ground floor, right beside the communal bathrooms.

After looking around to check for broken windows (not because of criminal activity, just because the frames were old and sometimes they just fell out), she pulled some clothes together and went to the bathrooms before deciding that the freezing cold water in the system would do nothing to warm her winter chill. Instead, she washed herself as quickly as possible using tap water and threw her clothes on twice as fast again.

Determined to stay warm, she walked out of the house towards the main village, planning to hang around Ichiraku ramen until someone offers to buy her dinner. It was usually whoever the third member of team Nara was, feeling an obligation as a teammate to show courtesy to her, but with Nobu surviving so long, the novelty had worn off. Now the tall blond walked straight passed her with a chuckled out "buy your own you cadger".

Today, Tenten almost wished she had let Tsunade put her in the hospital, and not just for the food; anything to avoid _her_ when she was in one of those moods.

"Ten-chan! There you are!" The other terrifying blonde in her life yelled across the road as she noticed her.

Tenten cautiously waved, knowing that Suzume was her only chance at food so she would have to deal with her. It wasn't that she didn't like her, just that the other kunoichi was slightly bi-polar, so you could never predict her actions from one second to the next. Right now, Suzume was flying high, judging by the grin so loud it looked like her eyes were scrunching up in fear.

She came bounding over as fast as her wrap around skirt would allow her, flipping her purple fringe from her eye to see her better. "You look a mess Ten-chan, you really should take care of yourself better- anyway... I have some news!"

"That will be why you are squeaking then?"

"Yesh! I am sooo exited. Come on, you must be starving, let's go down the street to the nice café place and I'll tell you all about it"

"That sounds wonderful" Tenten smiled genuinely, not telling her that she was referring to the cafe, not the talking.

After that, Suzume proceeded to squeal and squeak for almost half an hour, flapping her arms about manically in an effort to expend all of the extra energy she seemed to have picked up by magic. Tenten watched the display with interest as she slowly made her way through the small pile of food she had convinced the older kunoichi to buy for her. They had been in the same year at the academy and kept in touch since, but Tenten was convinced that Suzume had not changed at all from the moment they first met over 13 years ago.

When she began to check her watch, Tenten decided to begin paying attention. "Sume, are you expecting someone?"

"Hibiki! He's coming here very soon. I can't wait. Oh Ten-chan you are going to love him, he's so handsome and considerate."

"of course he is" she agreed, hiding the tones of sarcasm as best as she could, not that it would matter because Suzume was always dreadfully naïve when she was in this state, but she would have felt rude if she didn't. _All men are 'handsome and considerate' when Suzume first meets them… give it a few months and she'll be back at 'despising mankind for the chauvinistic scumbags they really are' and she will be bearable again._

Part of Tenten was protective of her friend, not wanting her too get too depressed again, and this was the part that scowled at the light brunet guy who walked into the café seconds later and kissed Suzume immediately. Another part of her just wanted her to be happy now, and hoping that she would either stay happy with this idiot or would begin to learn; this was the part that kept her mouth shut, even as a second guy stumbled in, with glasses balanced precariously wonky on his nose.

"Ten-chan, this is Hibiki. Hibiki, this is Tenten"

"Yo" she replied with a fake smile for Suzume's sake

"a delight, I'm sure" Hibiki spoke in a clear smooth voice that made me want to hit him then signaled to the nervous guy behind him "Tenten-san, may I introduce Osamu"

"He is well perfect for you Ten-chan, I'm sure of it" Suzume grinned again "he doesn't get out much either, and he's clever, even if he's a civilian-"

"Stop it Sume" I interrupt her before she gets carried away

"Huh?"

"You said that you wanted to talk"

"I do, I just…"

"I am not here for a double date Suzume; I don't need your assistance to find someone who is 'perfect' for me. This is ridiculous." she turned to Osamu, feeling slightly guilty for leaving him there "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude or anything and I'm sure you are a really nice guy and everything, but I don't feel like I need someone like that now ok?"

He merely nodded

"Nice to meet you Hibiki. Sume, talk to me when you mean it, I'll see you another time" with that she left the café as soon as possible, pulling her collar up her neck as far as possible to keep warm.

After walking around the busy streets for what seemed like hours, her legs began to ache and she felt the insatiable need to just stop and think. Collapsing onto a nearby bench, she tried to block out the sounds of the villagers shopping in preparation for the winter holidays as she stared into the sky.

This time of years had always been a pleasant time for most of the village, it being the one time that everyone got together with families and indulged in themselves. Being without both family and money to indulge with, Tenten often found herself skirting the inevitable parties until she could find a mission to escape with.

Although she knew that people like Suzume would happily take her in over the holidays, she knew she would only feel guilt at not being able to return the gesture. Instead she kept her distance from awkwardness in whatever way she found possible.

The clouds were dark grey in the distance, something that did not bode well for the winter. No doubt it would result in her being both freezing _and_ damp, whether it would be out in the field, or in her own apartment. Trying not to reflect on this she kept her gaze trained on the calmer clouds directly above the village, wherever she could find them.

It wasn't long before she was found again, she noticed by the cooler temperature on her face as the figure blocked out the sun. She was about to groan out a small string of expletives when his voice caught her attention.

"Come with me"

She sat up straighter on impulse as she turned her head to address him in shock "Sir! Where did you come from?"

"Just walking." He shrugged casually as he nodded towards the sky "You were watching the clouds"

She was suddenly a lot more comfortable than she had been all afternoon, but didn't want to risk exposing what was fast becoming a bad attitude due to cold and hunger. "Yeah, look, I'm not in the mood to be social"

"Me neither, but this place is awful for cloud viewing, it's too noisy." He replied nonchalantly "I figured that you might like to try it somewhere more comfortable"

She looked up at him oddly, wondering why he would even take the effort in telling her that.

"Fine, but you can't say I didn't offer. You're welcome to join me if you want" he strolled off at a slow pace to leave her alone, hands deeply rooted in his pockets.

Looking around quickly with a nervous glance she stood up and jogged to catch up with him, deciding that this would be a good way to stay hidden if Suzume decided to look for her again.

"Um… hai actually, arigato."

He glanced over at her expression in amusement "Hiding from someone?"

"Not hiding… more like avoiding with passion."

"I understand that" he sighed

"I just… if anyone else asks me about my relationship status today I'm going to devolve into some bizarre couch dwelling ball of duvet that lives only on chocolate ice cream and trashy novels"

He barely hid a smirk at the image this brought up in his head "Well I promise I won't say a word on that matter"

"Let me guess, that's because you don't intend to say much at all?"

"Is that such a crime?"

She smiled sweetly to herself "Not at all, I'm grateful."

She walked with him in silence until they reached the edge of the built up areas, where there was a small hilly area of grass bordered by bushes and trees. Looking up she noted that the branches did very little to obstruct the view of the sky and the sounds of civilization were faint. It was an ideal place to lie and watch the clouds and it managed to relax her immediately.

"How did you find this place? There must be nowhere else like this in Konoha"

"There isn't. It is private land"

"Oh… are you sure we can be here?"

"These hills are grazing land owned by the Nara clan for our deer. I can come here whenever I want and no one else can disturb me" he pointed out, lying down on the ground and stretching out, his hands lazily linked underneath his head.

"If you come here to be alone, why did you offer to bring me?"

"I don't come here to be alone. I come here to be undisturbed. You can't disturb me if you are doing the same thing I am"

She took that as a hint and leant down beside him, leaving enough distance so as not to feel like she was invading "well, thank you. I really appreciate it"

"I promised we could go cloud watching when we returned, it's no big deal. Also, Tsunade asked me to pass on a message"

"I knew it had something to do with ANBU" she sighed "what does she want? Please say it's another mission"

"No, sorry. She called a captains' meeting earlier to inform us that all missions have been suspended for the next few weeks"

"You have got to be kidding me" she sat up in alarm

"No" he closed his eyes as though expecting an outburst, trying to phase her out.

To his surprise, that outburst never came, and a few minutes later he opened one eye to find that she was staring at the sky, her knees drawn to her chest in an almost melancholy way. He watched her with wonder as she sat silent and still, her silhouette outlined by the sunlight behind her.

"This is stupid" she mumbled under her breath, taut emotion in her voice as though she was talking to herself

"What is?" he asked her, sitting up as well

"The pathetic mission ban, what the hell is it even for?"

He sighed heavily before explaining the logic "There is a severe snow storm predicted to fall on Konoha in the next few days and it may be in the area for some time. Not even a shinobi could survive something like that in the field."

She thought back to her previous observations and nodded, '_cold and damp…' _"Oh"

"What's so bad about not having any missions?" he wondered idly

"I uh…" she hesitated for a second, shifting her gaze to the floor "It's just more time that Nobu and Suzume can interfere with my personal life"

"Nobu does that on missions"

"I know; I just feel more comfortable with you around."

That stunned him a little, not necessarily that she would say something like that, but that he had been thinking much along the same lines. "We could… no, forget it. My strategies are flawed today"

"What is it sir?" she asked him innocently, without even turning to face him

"I was going to suggest that- maybe, if you want to…" he took a deep breath, recognizing that he was probably being too bold "Do you want to come over to mine for dinner or something?"

"Like, not for a meeting?" she asked, but she was really thinking '_for dinner…'_

"I said it was not one of my best plans" he mumbled dejectedly

"No, I… I think that would be really nice. If you don't mind"

"I don't mind" he shrugged and lay back down on the grass

"I thought you said it was too troublesome having people over"

"It is usually, but you are kind of… less troublesome"

She laughed "I'll take that as a complement… barely"

"Come over tonight ok? 'Bout half four?"

"I don't know where you live"

"Meet here then and I'll take you, it's not far"

**AN: feedback pleshies. **

**So much for poetry… this was all a bit dramatic, wasn't it? There is more to why Tenten is living in that state than meets the eye, but all will be revealed in later chapters. I still maintain that Tenten can't actually be OOC on the theory that she doesn't actually have a character. Shikamaru may be a bit off but I think it works so there.**

**I actually wrote loads for this story the other day, but for some reason, it has all just disappeared, so I had a little cry and threw some stuff across my room in frustration. I'm not even exaggerating, it was **_**really**_** good stuff, and I can't frelling remember it. **

**I also drew some fan art using a scene which I plan to feature in this story in about 2/3 chapters time, but I won't be cruel enough to submit it now. **

**Fyi, Shika is not asking Tenten on a date or anything like that. He is only asking because he still feels bad about having only had mission contact with her after so long. **

**Much humor will definitely feature in the next chapter, I promise. Even if it is short, it is funny.**

**RULE 1: If you don't like it- give me **_**constructive**_** criticism, not just 'I don't like this', or don't say anything at all**

**RULE 2: If you do like it, review, show the luff**

**RULE 3: If you do, or you are even not sure, go and visit my writing website: www . freewebs . com /belizma-kelli (delete spaces)**

**Stay shiny and show the luff**

**Belizma-chan**


	4. Company

**AN: I promise this will get better. Had to update soonish though. Sorry it's short**

**Disclaimers apply as usual.**

Average- Company

Tenten held her arms around herself, shivering slightly at the cold. The sun was low in the sky, growing close to setting. She couldn't say for sure how long she had been standing in that spot, watching the clouds over Konoha, only that it was surely too long. She began to wonder if it was a mistake to say yes to her captain, that perhaps he was thinking the same.

It had always been a small voice in her head that told her not to try getting personal with a teammate, ever since she had lost Lee. With friendship came emotions, which in turn brought lack of professionalism that could prove fatal. That's what had happened all those years ago, when he had pushed himself too far.

A particularly hard battle had exhausted Neji's chakra supply, leaving him open for attack with only tai-jutsu for defense. Lee had forgone reason and tried to fight for them both by opening one too many gates. It was a situation that, for once, had not been Tenten's fault, as she was fighting her own battle away from them, but when she had gone back to see that Lee was fatally unconscious, Neji had sought to blame her friendly attitude.

It was one thing that made her most angry about that day, the fact that Neji was yet to realize that any teammate with a personality like Lee's would have done the same thing, or that any other teammate would have been thankful for his sacrifice instead of acting like a dickhead to everyone left alive. He wished he had died instead, and for some time, Tenten had agreed with him.

It was hard not to think of that event on days like this, with the cold of winter blocking out all positive emotion for those who were left alone. She accredited her lack of bitterness to that detachment she induced towards her teammates. Perhaps attempting to befriend Shikamaru would only re-stir emotions that she had happily discarded years ago.

She was stirred from her thought by a masculine voice calling from behind her.

"Hey, what are you doing girl? This is private property"

She turned to face him, her heart thumping in shock before recognizing familiar family features behind the think scarf wrapped around his neck "I know that Nara-san"

"You don't have permission to be here" he glared suspiciously

She suddenly realized that Shikamaru might not have informed his father of her presence, especially if he had forgotten "I beg your pardon sir, but I was waiting here for Nara Shikamaru"

"He told you to wait here?" He raised an eyebrow curiously as he stepped forward to examine her closer

"He did"

"He should have informed me first." He shook his head in amusement, his features softening to a smile "How late is he?"

"I don't know. I don't own a watch" Shivering again, she attempted to hide her coldness with a shrug

He gestured to a small number of deer grazing at the edge of the hill "Do you think you could give me a hand while you are waiting?"

"With the deer?" her eyes widened

"Afraid of getting your hands dirty?" he smirked

She instantly recognized that expression as a challenge and stood up straighter "Not at all. What do you need help with?"

He struggled to contain his surprise "You would seriously help me?"

"I have to find something to do until he gets here, why not make myself useful?"

"Good girl." He chuckled "Actually I am just grooming them to avoid the wife, but you are welcome to join in if you wish"

She smiled back respectfully and wandered over to one of the deer, mimicking his actions as he held a hand out for the deer to detect his scent. The doe she approached licked gently at her finger in acceptance and she ran her hand over the animal's nose in thanks. The simple task helped her to feel warmer, an honest smile working its way onto her face.

"You have a knack with them miss; they aren't that accepting to Shikamaru"

"They are wonderful animals Nara-san. You truly know your craft"

"You know much about animal rearing?"

"My father is a blacksmith, we used to keep a good number of horses when I was a girl"

He nodded appreciatively "Are you a friend of Shikamaru's?"

"To some extent I suppose. We are colleagues" she could feel his gaze on her, but kept her attention on the animal in front of her

"You are older than him are you not?"

"I am. I do not outrank him though"

"Rank means nothing to all but those who deal out the paychecks."

She let out a soft chuckle "I fully agree Nara-san."

"If you don't mind me asking, what is your purpose in meeting my son tonight?"

She paused in her actions "I don't really know to be honest. We don't usually spend much time together at all, but he invited me to dinner tonight so I thought it polite to accept"

"You certainly do seem to have a very literal way of thinking things through"

"I rarely do the thinking"

"I find that hard to believe"

"Yo" Shikamaru called from behind them, causing her to stand up immediately to address him

"Konbanwa sir" she nodded in respect as she turned to greet him

"Aren't you cold?" he noted her thin top, unchanged from earlier

"Yes"

"Don't you own warm clothing outside of your anbu uniform?"

"No" she fought the urge to drop her gaze, refusing to show weakness in front of her captain

"Fair enough." He sighed, and then he noticed his father beside her "Konbanwa Otou-san"

"Konbanwa Shikamaru." He glared, arms crossed over his chest "You should really know better than to leave young ladies waiting out in the cold. Your_colleague_ here has been very helpful with the deer while she was waiting"

He picked up on his tones easily. "Gomenesai. Otou-san, this is my second in command, Tenten"

"Ah… you are the infamous weapons mistress." He seemed shocked once again, but not unpleasantly so "How nice to finally encounter you. It has taken my son far too long to make an effort to get to know you, I feel as if I should apologize for him"

"There is no need for apologies Nara-san. I also made no effort to extend contact outside of missions."

"So it seems" he laughed "I like her Shikamaru, I can see why you have such trouble with teammates now. I shall leave you two in peace"

"Otou-san?" Shikamaru called him back

"Hai Shikamaru?"

"Do not speak of this to Okaa-san"

"It wasn't in my plan"

"Good"

He turned again and left through the trees.

Shikamaru waited for a while after he left before addressing the chilled kunoichi. "I am sorry you had to wait out here, something came up"

"Oh" she was alarmed slightly at the disappointment in her tone "I mean, if you want to cancel, I don't mind"

"You don't?"

"What would be the logic in getting upset? It was only casual, was it not?"

"Hai, I just expected that you would be a little more…"

"Violent? I'm not Ino" she smiled lightly at him

"No… no you are not…" He mumbled as he stared at his feet

"It's not a problem if you have other priorities, honestly"

"Perhaps we could reschedule for another date?"

"Sir, you don't have to…"

He snapped his head up quickly "Shikamaru"

"Pardon?"

"My name is not 'sir', it is Shikamaru. You do not need to address me in that manner"

"Gomenesai" She looked down to find that the color of her hands was beginning to lack saturation severely "I should get home before I freeze my ass off"

"Of course, don't let me hold you here any longer than you want to be."

"Arigato" she nodded before moving off towards civilization.

She didn't look back at him as she left, even as he called after her "Oyasumi Ten-chan. I'll contact you when I can"

There was something in that she couldn't detect, the way he had spent so long with her, only to tell her he had to cancel. He was the first ever to do that for her; most men were more likely to leave her there in the cold without a word. Perhaps it was that duty as a teammate she was so terrified of, that he would risk anything to assure her safety. Perhaps that was more of a romanticized image of that herculean hero she had in her head to help her through her darker times. Some women read romance stories of these mythical 'decent' men to comfort themselves, but Tenten couldn't afford the books, so she made use of her imagination. Now she had to contain herself from letting her imagination get ahead of her. _It's probably nothing…_

Beginning the long trek home, she pushed him out of her mind, keeping an eye out instead for anyone she could find on the way to keep her company on this freezing cold night. There was no use denying the storm's arrival now, with the eerily still chill in the air. The next few days were guaranteed to be harder for her than ever.

* * *

Shikamaru let out a sigh of relief as he re-entered the warmth of his apartment, then caught the shadow of the offending presence. "You are more troublesome than most women, you know that right?"

"Sure, if you say so" the long haired figure relaxed into the sofa

"I really don't know why I let you in here so often"

"Face it, without me, you'd be bored. You don't have any other plans, do you?"

"No, of course not" He sighed, not wanting to mention Tenten around the present company

"Then with the house to ourselves, there's nothing to complain about"

"No…"

"Why are you objecting so much? Your roommate isn't returning soon, is he?"

"No, he's on a mission." He reluctantly sat down beside them "I'm sorry, my mind is elsewhere"

"Refocus it then, I need your full attention"

**AN: feedback pleshies. **

**Not the humor I promised, but it is hinted at and you'll appreciate it in the next chapter hopefully. The end section is a bit of a teaser really… it's not what you think. Hehe. **

**RULE 1: If you don't like it- give me **_**constructive**_** criticism, not just 'I don't like this', or don't say anything at all**

**RULE 2: If you do like it, review, show the luff**

**RULE 3: If you do, or you are even not sure, go and visit my writing website: www . freewebs . com /belizma-kelli (delete spaces)**

**Stay shiny and show the luff**

**Belizma-chan**


	5. Intruder

**AN: This ended up longer than I expected, but hey, I love the second half. It cracks me up. Once again, apologies for late updates, but my muse for this story dumped me last week, making it a bit hard for me to write this without wanting to cry. It's out now though. I don't know how long the next chapter is going to be or when I'll be able to write it.**

**Everyone has slipped into OOC land a bit here, but it's deliberate. After all, people do change under circumstances like these.**

**Find out who the long haired intruder is and read on… **

**Disclaimers apply as usual.**

Average- Intruder

Stretching out an arm, she attempted to stir herself to a more waking state, but found her enthusiasm for the action severely lacking. It was another one of those days. Quickly, she decided against the action, as the freezing damp air of her apartment hit her arm with the same force as the side of her bed.

She cursed sharply to herself and withdrew the offended limb back beneath the blanket drawn over her, only to accidentally slide her icy fingers against her bare midriff. Wincing again, she opened her eyes reluctantly to glance at the clock.

"That's not good." she groaned and sat up, running a hand through her slightly greasy hair. It was mid afternoon already, meaning that she had wasted the best part of two days under a blanket.

Yesterday she had spent the day alone with a hangover that she would rather forget, following a night hitting the bars of Konoha to gain both company and warmth. She didn't really find either, and the searing agony hadn't really helped to console her of this fact. Now she was achy from sleeping uncomfortably, unwashed from laziness, and starving hungry.

The grogginess from the previous day had stayed for extra time, probably due to oversleeping and dehydration, but at least the waves of nausea had taken a holiday for the time being. The partially healed scar on her leg flared in pain as she tried stand up, holding the blanket close to her in the vain hope of retaining warmth. If it wasn't for her stubbornness she should have had someone see to the injury at the hospital, as it would surely hinder her training for a while, but she hated that place with a passion.

Pulling on a pair of loose trousers and a white training top, Tenten began to tidy up the bottles and cushions from the floor, determined to organize the chaos of the pig sty she lived in. The blanket was still secured tightly around her shoulders to keep all available warmth close.

A knock came at the door, interrupting her actions as the sound echoed off the walls almost deafeningly. Grumbling to herself, she dropped the blanket back onto the floor and shivered as she swung the door open.

"I had no idea I would end up playing delivery service now" Nobu frowned, throwing a piece of paper at her, which she caught with her usual accuracy "it's hardly ninja worthy"

Tenten merely glared at him, ignoring the paper in her hands.

"Well good afternoon to you too sunshine." He mocked "are you gonna let me in? It's bloody freezing out here"

"It's not much better in here, trust me"

He looked her up and down, noticing her body language and the goose pimples adorning her pale skin. "Right you are. Want to try and find somewhere else warmer? Training is cancelled and I'm bored out of my skull"

"We had training?" She frowned, anger flaring for a second at not being told this information.

"Yeah. Not now though because the storm is moving in so the grounds are off limits. Didn't Nara tell you that?"

She gritted her teeth at the obvious bating, attempting to flash him a blank expression "No, guess it slipped his mind."

"Coming out of that dump?" He smirked, straining to look past her shoulder into the very unladylike hole of an apartment.

"Sure" she shrugged, thinking that perhaps she might get food out of it at the least. Grabbing her keys from the pile of junk by the door, she stepped out, shutting the door behind her.

"Not going to bother putting on a jacket or ought?"

"Can't wear what I don't own" she pointed out and started to wander down the corridor, quickly reading through the note Nobu had handed her as he followed close behind. A slow frown settled onto her face. "Nobu, did Shikamaru-san give this to you?"

"No, some random chunin handed it to me under orders. Is it from him?"

"Hai. It's his handwriting"

"What does it say?"

"Nothing important" she sighed again and shoved the note into her pocket "this is going to have to be short though, I have an elsewhere to be within the next half an hour"

"Half an hour? Seriously?" he didn't seem disappointed, merely skeptical of her ambiguous tone of voice "That's barely enough time to get somewhere and sit down"

"Good point. See you then" she waved goodbye quickly and walked off at a faster pace, leaving him perplexed.

She got as far away as possible before she could mask her chakra without raising suspicion and slumped against a wall. A single tear dropped down her cheek, for what reason she could barely fathom. Part of her had spent the last few days trying to be angry, at what or who she only had a vague idea of. Only one thing was really certain to her, all it took was for those few lazily scribbled words on paper to break her down.

She still wanted to be angry, but couldn't find any way to do it. She was sure that when someone you thought you were getting closer to suddenly didn't talk to you for days and missed off vital (and it's important to add- professionally so) information, it was something you should be mad at them for. Perhaps it was just her loneliness and boredom speaking when she thought ridiculous things like that; perhaps she didn't really need to get angry at all.

Something in her head or her heart (she couldn't decide which yet) had felt empty, just with two days alone where normally they would be training or on a mission, and she almost wanted to yell at him for making her feel that way… almost. Then again, every time she thought of his face, she calmed immediately. Never once had she been truly angry at him, the way she had been with Neji or Suzume or anyone else she had encountered, it was almost as if she was incapable of it.

Sure, he had his faults, but nothing she didn't find endearing in some way. Wiping the tear from her cheek, she realized what she had just been thinking and froze. _I can't, can I… There's no way I would… It's… No, I can't possibly…_

"Tenten…?"

She snapped her head up to her left, eyes widening in what shocked her to be relief at the sight of her anbu captain stood about 10 paces away, hands deep inside his pockets. _… Miss him…?_

"Tenten, I didn't think you would get here this early." He briefly surveyed her outfit "You did get the note, right?"

Tearing herself out of her daze, she stood up straight and attempted to cover herself. Then she looked around to find herself outside one of the smaller apartment buildings bordering the central square, which happened to be where the note had said to meet. "Ah, yes I did sir. I mean, why else would I be here?"

"I am quite surprised you showed up actually. I haven't seen you in days"

_What… he thinks I've been avoiding him or something? _Her eyes narrowed slightly, but the second he met her gaze questioningly she relaxed again, and nonchalantly replied "We haven't had missions or training"

"I'm sorry about the other day. My father was right, I don't spend enough time getting to know my teammates outside of missions, and I fear I haven't got off to much of a start"

"I don't mind sir, I understand"

"Right…" he glanced off with a sigh

"What was it you wanted to meet me for?"

He shrugged "I wanted to make it up to you. I would suggest going to watch clouds again, but you don't seem particularly well dressed for that kind of activity"

"Gomen… I'm not particularly well dressed full stop at the moment"

"Come on, I'll take you back to my apartment. It's not far away and Chouji isn't due to get back until much later tonight"

Tenten was taken aback by the offer. First he offers to take her to his private land, and now he takes her to his apartment… it felt like she was invading a large part of his life. "Are you sure sir?"

"Shikamaru, and yes, I'm sure. It's too cold here"

Not wanting to seem pushy or impolite, she merely nodded silently and followed as he led her down the next side street.

* * *

It wasn't long before they reached their destination and Shikamaru could barely hold back his smile at Tenten's expression of relief. The warm air hit their faces, causing her to look slightly flushed; a look that he much preferred to the pale cast of melancholy she had been carrying when he first saw her earlier. The color in her cheeks made her seem happier and more vivacious than she had been in a while.

He froze his observations quickly as he noticed her eyes widen sharply. He was sure from her stiff body language that if it wasn't for the warmth of the room, her face would have been as pale as a ghost.

Almost fearing what it was she had seen in his apartment, he turned reluctantly just as she let out a weak "N-Neji?"

Holding eye contact scornfully, the long haired man snapped at him "Shika? What the fuck?"

Shikamaru was almost shaking at the tense atmosphere of the situation, and nervously scratched his head. "Oh, dammit, I forgot. You two were on the same genin team right?"

The Hyuuga was obviously not impressed "I told you not to bring anyone here if I was here."

"Once in a decade Nej, chill out" He actually snapped, not even understanding himself why he was being so defensive about this.

He glared harshly at Tenten for a second, then sighed heavily and reached forward to drag the older shinobi into the bedroom for some privacy. "You said Chouji was on a mission so we could have some alone time"

"I know I did… but she…"

"Oh Kami" He sighed exasperatedly "You have a crush on her."

"I do not." Shikamaru snapped, offended by the notion

Neji raised an eyebrow at him, leaning closer "What's the point in lying to me? I can see every twitch of emotion on your face by now"

"Look, can't you…" He took a nervous step away from the intimidating man "just for today… act like a human?"

"Whatever" he rolled his eyes and led back out to where Tenten was standing nervously, still in the doorway with her shoes on.

She started to back away uncomfortably "um… sir, I can…I mean… I should just go"

Shikamaru looked at Neji with pleading eyes. The Hyuuga was forced to give in "Tenten"

The tightness in her body suggested that she was terrified merely at him attempting to speak to her "y-yes Neji-kun?"

"Stay here please." He instructed, in what he thought should be interpreted as a compassionate tone

"But I don't want to interrupt, I mean… if you wanted to be alone…" her face was blushing so much she had to hide her face behind her bangs.

"We can do it with three people easily enough. Unless you just wanted to watch, in which case you'll have to keep quiet otherwise Shika will lose his concentration and the whole activity will be pointless" He once again had to fight back a smirk at what he had just implied

She went even redder, her mind skipping straight to the stoic shinobi's undertones. "I uh…"

"Please ten-chan." Shikamaru tried, doing his best to skim over the Hyuuga's teasing "I bet you'd make it so much more interesting"

She was beyond words now, every thought in her head being caught up.

"Let's move this to the table" Neji suggested, getting fed up of standing around

"The table?" she gasped out in horror as she nervously glanced to the table in the centre of the room, which was currently occupied by game pieces

"Well, that's where we usually do it. Any better ideas?"

Shikamaru looked over with concern at the fear on her face as she now because virtually speechless "Tenten, are you all right?"

"I um… I don't think I should be doing this. It's not that I don't want to, I just um…"

"You are inexperienced" Neji pointed out without a care

"What?!" her mouth dropped open

"Don't worry. We'll take care of you." Shikamaru urged, stepping forward to place a comforting hand on her shoulder "It's pretty easy to pick up with practice"

She looked sheepishly into Shikamaru's dark eyes and saw nothing but honesty and compassion, which helped to still her nerves somewhat, but she was still on edge about the other presence in the room "Neji… don't you feel odd about this?"

"Why should I? I don't care who's watching as long as I get a chance to keep playing" He shrugged and sat down in the seat beside the small sofa

She gulped, realizing that they were both being quite serious "You don't care that it's me? I thought you didn't like me"

"I don't. Not even remotely."

"So why would you…"

"I like Shikamaru as a partner. He seems to like you"

She blushed but still felt uncomfortable with the notions she believed they were suggesting.

"Please Tenten." Shikamaru implored with a soft voice "Just sit and watch one round to see if you can understand the rules. I'll explain anything you don't understand, and then you can decide if you want to join in."

"Wait, there are rules?" She looked up at him with a puzzled expression

"Of course there are rules Tenten. A complicated game like Shoji is useless without rules."

Her eyes widened again "Shoji?"

Neji laughed low in his throat at her misconceptions "Hai, what did you think we were talking about?"

"Never mind." She shook her head "Can I use your bathroom sir?"

"Stop calling me that, and of course you can" he signaled which door to follow

"Arigato s… Shikamaru" she called back as she slipped off her shoes and made a speedy exit.

Once she was gone, he collapsed onto the sofa and unzipped his jacket, mumbling under his breath "Troublesome"

"She is odd. How can you like her?" Neji remarked coldly

He leant forwards on his hands, staring at the Shoji board "She wasn't being herself. For some reason she was nervous"

He nodded "It was my presence. Perhaps when you are alone she feels calmer, but she is always on edge around me"

"Hai… Ino thinks she has a crush on you" he looked up slyly, searching for some display of emotion.

"That is not the reason behind her nervousness. Believe me; I know the signs for that kind of infatuation."

"What do you suggest it is then?"

"I do not care to comment"

"But you have your theories"

"I always have my theories"

He nodded to himself as he leant back into the sofa, hoping that his next words would go down better than they had in the past. "Perhaps you should go?"

"Perhaps I should. She seems as though she had other ambitions tonight than just to play games"

Ignoring Shikamaru's almost homicidal glare, Neji simply smirked to himself proudly and made his way out of the door silently.

"Why does he always have to make a nuisance of himself…?" He murmured quietly, regretting how completely downhill his plans had gone. _Note to self; don't bother bringing anyone home anymore._

"Um… Shikamaru?" Her voice came softly from the doorway to his left, drawing him from his thoughts.

"He's gone Ten-chan, you can relax"

"I'm sorry if I ruined your plans…"

"You didn't. He wasn't invited, as usual. You, however, were and you didn't deserve that."

She looked down at her feet, obviously thinking otherwise.

"Let's not let him interrupt everything ok?" He smiled comfortingly at her, stepping up from the sofa to meet her gaze. A small smile crept onto her face in response.

**AN: feedback pleshies. **

**I think Tenten at the start of this chapter is an exact write out of a real event; also, a lot of the shikaten interaction is exactly like mendo-kun and me just before we started dating. I hope that adds some kind of realism.**

**Next chapter, the romance really starts to kick off. **

**RULE 1: If you don't like it- give me **_**constructive**_** criticism, not just 'I don't like this', or don't say anything at all**

**RULE 2: If you do like it, review, show the luff**

**RULE 3: If you do, or you are even not sure, go and visit my writing website: www . freewebs . com /belizma-kelli (delete spaces)**

**Stay shiny and show the luff**

**Belizma-chan**


	6. Addict

**AN: well aren't you all lucky I decided to get this finished… I hope. Well, it finally gets down to that wonderful romance part… do excuse my moments of knowledge. **

**Disclaimers apply as usual.**

Average- Addict

After standing in silence for some time, Tenten glanced out of the large windows that formed a centre piece in Shikamaru's minimalist but cozy apartment. "It's dark already… the stars are out."

An idea struck him at that comment, and he reached out to take her hand.

"W-what?" she snapped her attention back to him, wondering why he had initiated the sudden contact.

"Come on; let's go sit on the roof."

He waited for her shocked and appalled squeal, but it never came. Instead she just raised an eyebrow, "Um… ok?"

She fascinated him. Any other girl would have freaked out at the suggestion of going to sit on a mucky Konoha apartment block roof on the night before Christmas Eve. Then again, any other girl would probably have noticed it was nearly Christmas Eve in the first place. He wondered if she had even taken note of the decoration deficiency in the apartment.

It was usually Chouji who cared for details like that, and everything else for that matter. In recent years, Ino had even inflicted herself on them and they had prepared for Christmas as a group, but with Chouji on a mission and Shikamaru's thoughts in the clouds, nothing had gotten done.

He noticed he was staring and cleared his throat before sliding across one of the glass panels to allow them access outside. Leading her out onto the small balcony, he watched as she realized that they were on the top floor.

The view stretched out over the rooftops to frame the forests surrounding the hidden village starkly against the dark horizon. The hokage monument couldn't be seen from this angle, but that only added to its charm, a new perspective added to everything without that overpowering symbol of shinobi pride.

He let her stare in wonder for some time before resting a hand on her shoulder to attract her attention from the Konoha skyline. "It's even better further up."

She spun her head to see him signaling to the slanted roof above the apartment and felt him hook an arm around her waist. Before she could speak, he had jumped up to the roof space and set her down gently.

"I could have done that myself sir."

"I know that," he smirked "I don't like you calling me sir."

She smirked back, her eyes glittering from the light of the streets below. "I know that."

He sighed appreciatively and lay down, his arms behind his head comfortably as he signaled with his eyes for her to join him.

She did as he requested, smiling in delight as she discovered that the roof tiles had retained the sun's heat somewhat. Despite her obvious thrill at the wind blowing gently through her hair; it would not be that productive for her to freeze to death up here.

"Do you know many constellations Tenten?"

"I wish… I've never had anyone teach them to me. I've heard of a few but I couldn't name them now or pick them out."

"Well I can't say I can label most of them, but I know a few basics."

"Why am I not surprised?" she laughed lightly "want to show me?"

"Sure… come closer."

She shuffled up as close to him as she could so that he could point them out to her better and got herself as comfortable as she could. Distracted as she was for a second by his familiar smell, she kept her smiles to herself and followed the direction of his finger as he pointed one out.

"This one's really easy. Even down below where the sky isn't that clear you can usually see this. You see those three stars very close together in a straight line?"

"Hai."

"Right, well they are named Orion's belt. It's the only place in the entire night sky where three stars line up like that."

"Really?"

"Hai. Of course, they aren't a constellation on their own. The full one is Orion. Can you follow where I'm pointing?"

"Hai."

"Those four stars make up Orion's body… then that group is his bow… there's his other arm… and can you see the sword sheath coming off his belt?"

"Hai, wow he's like some kind of Hercules figure." She smiled, thinking of her own thoughts from the other day.

"That's exactly what he is, in astrology anyway."

"Are any more connected to mythology?"

"Sure. A lot of star signs come from those kinds of sources, because when they were named, those are the stories that people liked to connect the shapes to. Some were just idol observations, but some were actually very useful."

"How so?"

"Well, one really useful constellation can show you which way is north."

"I think I've heard of that one."

"Ursa Major; otherwise known as the great bear, or the plough." He pointed up again "It's up there. You see that trapezium, and the line of stars heading off from it?"

"Hai."

"Well, if you follow the line off _that_ star…" he showed her the path with his finger, "You get the North Star."

"And that's the way north?"

"Hai. The line from directly above where you are standing now to the North Star is like the needle on a compass."

"That's really valuable."

"Only at night though. Get lost during the day and that technique is pretty hard."

She chuckled lightly. "I can imagine."

"It's getting pretty late…" he sighed.

"I don't want to go home." Tenten said, a little quicker than she intended.

He turned his head sideways to face her, "Why not?"

She avoided his gaze and took a deep breath before replying, "No food."

"Buy some."

"No money either."

"Surely, mission pay…" He wondered if that was why she seemed so upset after being told about the mission suspension. Why else would someone be upset about not missing out on Christmas.

"I um… I spend it on something else." She seemed really upset talking about it, and sat up to hug her knees like the other day.

"Tenten…" It stunned him a little, and he couldn't hold back from sitting up beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder for support. "What's wrong?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"It's taboo. I wouldn't want you to think any less of me as a kunoichi." Her eyes flicked up nervously at him before returning to the sky.

"Nonsense. I could never think less of you; I respect you far too much." He continued in a softer tone, "Please tell me… as a friend rather than as a captain. "

She mumbled her answer quietly, after a long pause. "Alcohol."

"pardon?" his eyes widened, having barely heard the word, and hoping it was not what he thought he heard.

"Alcohol. I am an alcoholic; I spend all of my money on it." Her head sunk in shame, and partially at relief in telling someone. "My fridge is full of bottles, not food."

"You have to be kidding. I've never seen you anywhere near a drink."

"I know…" she was hoping that he wasn't too disappointed in her when a thought occurred to her. "I can't explain it very well, but I never seem to feel like I need to drink around you."

He nodded sympathetically "I think I understand… I'm a smoker you know? I never smoke around you though."

"Really?" It brightened her somewhat to find that she wasn't alone.

"Really." It fascinated him how many things they were finding in common, and he had to ask the question that was burning at him. "Why do you do it?"

"I don't understand what you mean."

"The alcohol. Why is it that you drink?"

"I um… I've never had a strong personality." She fiddled with her nails to distract herself from meeting his eye contact. It scared her sometimes how well he could just see what she felt by looking in her eyes. "I used to think that people would notice me more if I drank."

"You have a wonderful personality Tenten." he told her in almost a whisper, as if he was stunned that she didn't realize it.

"See…" she couldn't resist that tone, and turned to face him, a smile almost immediately pulling at her lips. "That's why I don't need to drink around you, you accept me for who I am."

He shrugged, knowingly as bad as she was at accepting compliments of any kind. "I just smoke to relax."

"Relax? You? You have to be the most laidback guy on the planet."

"Not naturally. I used to be, but now I get so stressed out about missions, about teammates; the cigarettes are the only thing that keep me acting like myself. Except with you, you relax me all on your own. You are so capable and strong, but careful and thoughtful at the same time, I never have to stress about you."

She let the smile ghost onto her expression, "That's really sweet Shikamaru."

He pulled himself out of the intellectual reverie and lay back down on the roof. "I think I spilled out a bit, sorry."

She settled herself back down beside him "No, I like hearing you speak. It's nice to hear another perspective when you are used to being phased out in the background for being… average."

"There is nothing wrong with being average…" he stopped as something dawned on them both, now lying very close together in the snow and a blush spread across their cheeks.

Shikamaru let out a breath he had been holding for a few minutes as they both traced over their thoughts in silence "Do you think it's possible that we have been lying to ourselves for some time now?"

"I am almost certain of it." she agreed, heart beating loudly in her throat.

"Should we just drop the pretence?" he edged his fingers to the point where they brushed against hers on the wet tiles.

She mentally flinched at the prospect of her captain harboring feelings for her, but soon got passed the awkwardness and held his offered hand softly. "Gladly."

They both grinned so hard their cheeks hurt and just how ridiculously happy they were feeling. The temptation to burst out laughing any second continued to build up as they lay together in silence. Both parties were waiting for the other one to say something, or do something, unable to do anything for themselves.

Tenten was the first to crack, shaken back to reality as a snowflake landed in her eye. "Are you aware that it started snowing a while ago?"

"I wasn't watching."

She turned back to face him, only to realize that he was staring at her intently. Determined not to let him ogle her for too long, she let out a chuckle. "If you didn't notice it was snowing, you probably didn't notice that neither of us have shoes on and are both dripping wet, right?"

"What?" he ran a hand over his hair and found that she was right, then looked back to her to notice that her white training shirt was now completely see-through. The blush invaded his face again and he forced his gaze away with a cough. "We should go back inside."

"Um, yeah." she agreed then followed him down and into the warm apartment.

"I'll try and find something for us to wear… and towels…" he told her, still not looking at her out of respect. "I might not have much though. I'm afraid Chouji does all the house work usually so today's the day I've been forced to put everything into laundry."

"Whatever you have will be fine, I'm sure." she urged, especially aware that while she remained in her wet clothes, she was still very cold.

He returned not long after he had disappeared, holding out a towel for her to take and one of his t-shirts. "Sorry it's not much, but it's all I have. It should cover more than Ino does regularly at least, but it's mine, not Chouji's so it's not huge."

"It's better than nothing." she laughed "Got somewhere I can change?"

"My room's just there." he pointed to where Neji had taken him earlier. "If you bring your wet clothes out afterwards I'll put them in the next load of the dryer for you."

"Arigato Shikamaru." she smiled and headed into the other room.

* * *

They reentered the room at the same time, finished changing and mostly dried off. As they looked up to achieve eye contact, each of them decided to pull their wet hair free of their ponytails, and couldn't refrain from smiling at the other. Tenten noted that he was topless, having obviously only left one outfit dry, and attempted to capture the image in her head.

He noticed her stare and ran his hand through his shoulder-length hair casually. "You don't mind, do you?"

She met his eyes again and continued to smile before running her eyes up and down him again. "No, not at all."

Somewhere in her head a little voice was scolding her for acting like that with her captain, but there was somewhere in there that was too busy listening to her heart do somersaults for exactly the same reason. She had never even entertained the thought of seeing Shikamaru as anything but her superior, but now she was seeing him in a different light, she was finding it very hard to think of him in any other way. It was worth the risk, she reckoned, to move close to a teammate again.

He held out a hand to take the wet clothes and towel from hers so she stepped forward to meet him half way. Waiting until she had watched him leave the room again, she sat down on the small sofa. She held her hands to her cheeks, trying to stop herself from grinning like an idiot, but she just couldn't help herself.

_Kami Tenten, think of something, anything… Neji, Lee, Nobu, Suzume... Alcohol… My apartment… Going home…_

Going home, just about did it. She had been having such a good time with Shikamaru that she hadn't even thought of going back to her freezing damp pit of isolation, and she didn't want the night to end. It wasn't a happy prospect. She was still smiling, but it wasn't nearly as cheek achingly obvious.

"Getting comfortable?" Shikamaru questioned teasingly as he entered the room and drew curtains over the large glass windows.

"You don't mind, do you?"

He caught on and sat down beside her, looking her up and down as he repeated her earlier words. "No, not at all."

She didn't know how to react, not even vaguely, which was shocking for her. She couldn't quite figure out how an apparent relationship virgin could have her speechless and full of butterflies without any real effort at all.

She found herself looking at really random areas of the room for something to talk about. "This place is shockingly well managed for a couple of bachelor shinobi."

"If you are referring to the curtains and matching pillows, you can blame Ino. It's really far too troublesome to object when she decides to decorate."

"Well, I kind of guessed that. I meant that it's so tidy and clean."

"We're never around to make much mess. That, and Chouji is slightly housewife-like at times."

"You really are rubbish at taking compliments, aren't you?"

"Gomen Tenten."

Her eyes travelled around the room again, until she settled on a clock on the wall outside the bedrooms. "Hey, it's Christmas eve."

He followed her gaze. "So it is."

"I didn't think we'd been out that long."

"Obviously we dazed off for longer than we thought. Do you have any plans?"

"For Christmas eve?"

"Hai, and Christmas."

"Go home and get ridiculously pissed, sleep with some random guy and wake up in a shallow pit of regret. You?"

He scowled at her, hoping that she wasn't being serious. "You are certainly not doing that. I won't allow it."

"What should I do then?"

He thought on it for a second, before making a decision. "Stay here with me."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you insane?"

"No. You can't spend Christmas miserable and your clothes won't even be dry for hours yet."

She was still concerned about the idea, for more than one reason. "When is Chouji going to be home?"

He sighed, realizing her reluctance. "Before the dryer finishes I'm afraid. He's really supposed to be back now"

Looking him in the eyes, she searched carefully for his answer. "How are we going to explain this?"

"I have a plan."

"I knew you would say that." she smiled confidently.

"Why ask then?"

"I like hearing you say it. Go on, what is this plan of yours?"

"I think, tonight, you can say that there was a surplus of unwanted liquid in your apartment meaning that you needed a place to stay. It's the complete truth so there is no guilt factor."

She almost laughed at the notion. "Really? You think that people would buy that?"

"I think the very few people I have around at Christmas will."

"Does this plan extend at all?" she wondered idly.

He shifted his focus to his hands nervously. "Well… I thought that… if you would be my girlfriend, we don't have to make it public, we can keep it secret well enough, meaning that we could really be alone together without any other worries. I mean… that's only if you want to because… I mean…"

She couldn't hold back her laughter. "What sort of a stupid notion is that?"

He glanced up at her, confusion all over his face. "Huh?"

"_If_ I would be your girlfriend? I thought we covered that with dropping the pretences."

"So you…"

She straightened her expression so that he would realize she was being honest. "Yes Shikamaru, I will be your girlfriend."

He sat up straight all of a sudden and faced her. "Excuse me just a second while I stop my planning."

"Why? What for?"

"I just really need to do this."

He reached out to hold one of her hands as his other hand cupped her cheek towards him. The feel of his touch on her face made Tenten suddenly very warm and her breath caught in her throat.

Huskily, he whispered as he leaned closer, his breath tracing against her skin. "You are cute when you blush."

Before she could say anything, his lips were on hers, softly and meaningfully, even if it was a brief contact. Everything stopped still, her mind wiped blank of all but the sensations overriding her at that instant. He was certainly not the best kisser she had ever encountered, but it was by far the most romantic.

She was so endeared by the pink hue to his face when he withdrew, his eyes looking for approval, that she could help but to whisper back, "So are you."

The hand he had on her cheek wrapped around her shoulders, bringing her closer to him. She rested up against his torso, still holding his hand as she slipped her other one around his waist contently.

"That was a good refrain." she smiled.

"Yes, it was."

"So… planning?" She asked as a finger unconsciously traced the contours of his bare skin.

He was temporarily distracted by her touches but tried to regain composure "Um, hai… we could, refer to each other by different names, like a nickname, so we can still talk about the relationship without anyone finding out who it actual is."

"That gives us something fun to do." She looked up at him approvingly.

They were interrupted as the door swung open and they sprung apart so fast Shikamaru almost injured himself. He cradled the pulled muscle in his wrist as he turned to face his roommate.

"Am I going to be blinded by Christmas lights if I open my eyes?" Chouji smiled, his eyes tight shut as he let his bag drop to the floor.

"Yeah, get real Choj." Shikamaru replied, nerves still evident in his voice.

"Are you sure, because I could have sworn I just heard a female voice and…" he trailed off as he opened his eyes and caught sight of Tenten, rather than Ino.

"Konbanwa Chouji-san." she greeted him with a polite nod, but didn't get up off the sofa in case that advertised her current clothing shortage.

"Um… Ohayou Tenten."

"How are you not wet Chouji?" Shikamaru grumbled deliberately to explain their scantily clad states. "Is it not snowing outside anymore?"

"It's all just settled out there. You were caught in the snow storm were you?"

"Something like that."

He slipped off his shoes and slumped down into the chair with a grin. "You were watching clouds, weren't you?"

"Chouji… I think I'm slightly offended that you would suggest such a thing."

"Stargazing." Tenten pointed out, loving the banter between them.

Chouji chuckled at the comment, but mainly at the glare his friend was giving the damp kunoichi for her input.

She blissfully ignored him.

"You know, we've had sweepstakes going forever on how long it would take before Shikamaru had a girl wandering around in just one of his shirts. I don't think anyone factored in the drenching scenario."

"It hardly counts, does it?"

"So, Chouji," Shikamaru ran a mile from the subject "Did everything go well with the mission?"

"Sure, one quick patch up from Sakura and no harm done at all."

"You were injured enough to go to hospital?" Tenten worried slightly.

"Tenten, he's not like you." Shikamaru pointed out her scarred leg "He goes to the hospital for practically every injury he gets."

"Hai, don't worry. It's just a scratch." He smiled reassuringly "So are you staying the night Tenten?"

Shikamaru answered for her "Yes, she is; tomorrow night too."

"Oh, really?"

"My apartment doesn't handle liquids well." she explained, but was surprised herself that Shikamaru had extended her stay.

"Snow storm's a bit of an inconvenience then."

"Just a lot."

"You taking the sofa tonight then?" Chouji asked Shikamaru.

"Why would I?"

"Even you surely wouldn't force Tenten out of a bed?"

"I have a double, there's no problem. We've slept in worse situations on missions."

"Far worse" Tenten grunted in agreement, remembering a few occasions where they had not only slept beside each other, but sometimes on top of each other due to lack of space. Thinking back on it now, it was a wonder she could focus on sleep.

Chouji stood up and headed down the small corridor towards the second bedroom. "Well I'm going to call it a night. See you tomorrow."

"Oyasumi Chouji." Tenten smiled, and waited until he was well out of hearing distance.

Feeling Shikamaru relax slightly beside her, she reached over for his hand and laughed softly. "Don't be so tense. He wouldn't say anything, even if he did figure it out."

"No, but I still want it just to be the two of us, without interference."

"It will be, don't worry."

**AN: feedback pleshies. **

**Once again, a write up of parts of our relationship, so I hope it's good, or I'll feel very crappy about feeling it was good when it happens. It's a lot harder than it seems to put real events into words. **

**I put quite a bit of effort into not being a lazy ass with punctuation on this. Also, considerably longer chapter, as requested. **

**Next chapter, Christmas Eve! Any ideas might be welcomed, but there's no guarentee i'll include them.  
**

**RULE 1: If you don't like it- give me **_**constructive**_** criticism, not just 'I don't like this', or don't say anything at all**

**RULE 2: If you do like it, review, show the luff**

**RULE 3: If you do, or you are even not sure, go and visit my writing website: www . Freewebs . com /belizma-kelli (delete spaces)**

**Stay shiny and show the luff**

**Belizma-chan**


	7. Warmth

**AN: Tsukareta wa… **

**Disclaimers apply as usual.**

Average- Warmth

Tenten woke to a familiar warmth as a sensation she had previously thought nothing of came to the forefront of her conscious mind.

As a genin, and even as a chunin, missions with her team had been something to dread, and she had only seen them as a means to advance herself. Her grot hole of an apartment was a comfort to her in those times, and she quite looked forward to the sparse occasions she was rewarded with a sleep in.

Something after then had changed this to the reverse side. For the longest time, waking up in a cold, damp tent before sunrise to cook what tasted to her like dried crap for a group of sweaty bloodstained men while trying to attend to her own injuries, had for some reason given her the deepest wave of satisfaction she had ever experienced, and nothing quite compared to that.

Her friends had spent years trying to figure out what it was that made her so out of the ordinary that she would view missions in such a light. This was what had started her 'complex' in the first place; wondering what part of the situation she liked so much driving her to attempt recreation, whether it is the sweaty men, or the bad food, or the cold, although she had never progressed to the point of self-harm to remedy the situation.

It wasn't until now that the thought even crossed her mind, that perhaps it wasn't the situation she craved. Waking up in another man's bed had never elicited those feelings she felt blessed with at that moment. A heat that went passed the realms of temperature coursed through every vein in her body, and it began to dawn on her.

It wasn't the sweaty, bloodstained _men_; it was a sweat bloodstained _man_. It was only once she was with him that the missions and training had become so vital to her, and she was now delighted to find that the sensations from before definitely carried on outside of the bloody and violent world of shinobi.

She felt like she would melt at that exact moment and that it wouldn't matter to her at all; the temptation to never fully open her eyes to reality again washed over her, desperate to hold onto what was bound to be a short lived moment of self indulgence.

Despite this, she had no trouble snapping out of her thoughts as a soft knock came at the bedroom door. "Tenten, Shika, you decent?"

Glancing over the two of them, she noted their position and did her best to get out of it before calling back. Shikamaru was holding her against himself, still fast asleep by his breathing pattern, their legs tangled comfortably. She removed his arm, careful not to disturb him, and sat up. "Um, yeah, I guess"

Chouji opened the door a crack and couldn't help the soft chuckle that escaped his mouth at the way Shikamaru was spread out, seemingly driving Tenten to a small area of the large bed. "I've made breakfast, if you want some. It's up to you if you want to wake him or not, but Ino is coming around within the hour."

"Alright, thank you Chouji." She smiled politely and went to tie her hair up; effectively telling herself it was time to get up. "Do you know if my clothes are dry yet?"

"Hai, they should be. Do you want me to fetch them?"

"No, it's ok, I'll get them myself."

"Ok, I'll leave you to it." With that he backed out of the room, leaving the door ajar to allow the smell from the kitchen to come through.

She looked back over at Shikamaru with a sigh. _I'd better wake him up. He'd probably take it better from me than from Ino._ She was reluctant to disturb his sleep; he seemed so peaceful and comfortable. More than anything she just wanted to curl back up against him, but she couldn't sensibly allow herself to.

Placing hand on his shoulder, she shook him gently, "Shikamaru…"

He began to stir, grumbling quietly as his arm reached out for what it had previously been holding.

"Come on, you need to wake up." she continued to urge, and leant down to peck him on the cheek.

That opened his eyes, and he stared up at her, taking a second to remember why she was there.

"Ohayou." she smirked at her half lidded gaze.

"What… why…?"

"Ino's coming over. You should probably be conscious."

"Mendokuse…" He groaned as he pulled himself to a sitting position, rubbing a hand through his messy hair.

"Well I'm going to go find clothes, don't know about you…" she started to get up, but was pulled back by one of his hands. "What now?"

He pulled her close to him, hands locking around her waist as he attempted to kiss her again. This time, she was prepared, and decided to show him what a good kiss could be like. Before their lips touched, she opened hers out to cover his bottom lip, and moved her mouth in a slow rhythm against his, slipping the edge of her tongue out once in a while to trace his lips.

Once he got over the initial shock, he began trying to mimic her actions, moving in time to her as he once again closed his eyes. Her arms moved over to rest against his bare chest and shoulder, enabling him to feel her body's movements more closely. They would happily have continued this for some time, had it not been for the sound reaching them of their own lips smacking.

Tenten pulled him into a hug, whispering quietly, "Just hope that Chouji didn't hear that."

"He'll be busy elsewhere." Shikamaru told her.

She let go of him with a smile, her hand reaching up to touch against her lips tenderly. "I really should go and get dressed now."

"Alright." He sighed, and watched her every move as she stood up to head to the door, making sure that his shirt was covering as much as possible before walking out into the main room of the apartment. Once she had left, he also held his hand up to his mouth, still feeling the tingling sensations her touch had left behind.

Ordinarily, he would have just rolled over and gone to sleep, but there was no chance he was doing that now, with his heart beating so hard it was deafening. Deciding it was pointless to sit around; he got up and walked out to find Chouji putting a plate of cookies onto the table, the shogi game nowhere in sight.

The rest of the apartment had been dramatically changed, with Christmas decorations hanging up on the walls and furniture. A tree was set up in the corner closest to the windows, but its decorations were still in a stack of boxes beside it.

"Been busy?"

"Shikamaru, you're up? That was quick."

He shrugged and slouched onto the sofa. "You aren't going too far to impress, are you Choj?"

"No, but Ino is coming soon and she'll only yell if we aren't in the spirit."

"I wouldn't have bothered."

"I know you wouldn't, you never do." He laughed, to let him know that he wasn't being serious.

Shikamaru's attention was already elsewhere, "Tenten."

"You said something about breakfast Chouji?" she smiled, stretching her arms over her head as she walked into the room, dressed in her clothes from the previous day.

"Sure," he grinned, grateful for someone new to try his cooking, "kitchen's just through here."

He led her down the corridor leading off the main room to a joined kitchen and eating room.

"This apartment is amazing guys, how do you afford it?"

"Shikamaru's anbu captain pay does a lot for it. I tend to pay for the food, which is only fair. Anything else is taken care of by our clans."

"Ah yeah, I forget you have parents."

He avoided the subject by producing a series of breakfast dishes, laying them across the high level table in the centre of the room.

"You really were bored, huh?" Shikamaru teased, grabbing a piece of French toast as he strode into the room and sat down.

"What… Shikamaru, you never eat breakfast." he commented as he poured Tenten some green tea.

He merely shrugged and continued to eat.

Tenten smiled at him briefly before looking over the food, "I think I'm spoilt for choice."

"Just dig in." Chouji smiled, grabbing a plate and piling it up for himself.

"Thanks a lot for this, I mean it. I owe you."

"Nonsense. I always welcome company."

"Talking of," Shikamaru interrupted, "When exactly did you get contact from Ino about her visit today?"

"She came to meet me when I got back last night. She said she tried to call in at the apartment last night but no one was answering."

"As Tenten said, Stargazing…" Shikamaru mumbled, as if practicing an excuse.

Accommodating as ever, Chouji just ignored him. "I would have said last night, but I guess it just slipped my mind."

"Don't worry about it." Tenten smiled, after swallowing a mouthful of fruit. "Shouldn't you put a shirt on or something Shikamaru?"

He stopped eating to frown at her, and then pointedly continued his actions.

Chouji laughed out loud. "You're lucky he even has pants on"

She tried to hide her blush at this remark by taking a sip of her tea.

They all continued to eat in silence until a knock sounded at the door. Almost instantly, Shikamaru got up and walked out to get dressed, while Chouji cleared up the leftover dishes into the oven or onto the side.

"Could you go and answer that Tenten? I won't be long." Chouji asked politely.

"Sure." She nodded and moved off through the apartment to the large wooden door.

Almost as soon as she opened it, the blonde had dived forward and pulled her into a bone crunching hug. "Kami Tenten! What are you doing here?!"

"not… breathing…" she tried to stress out through the kunoichi's iron grip.

Ino stood back and closed the door behind her as she wandered into the apartment. "Seriously though, I haven't seen you in ages. How are you?"

She took an over cautious step back and smiled shyly. "Um… I'm great actually; better than I have been for a while."

"That's awesome! Got a boy… no, I won't bother asking. Where are my boys?"

"Oh, they're just…"

"Merry Christmas Eve Ino-chan" Chouji grinned as he walked back in, Shikamaru close behind.

Shikamaru couldn't help but to exchange a glance with Tenten before sitting down on the sofa.

"You too Choj." She grinned happily "Are you going to say hi to me Lazy bum?"

"Hi" he grunted reluctantly.

Luckily for him, her attention was distracted, "Oh, you left the tree! That's so cute. We can do it all together, like a team."

"And Tenten" Chouji pointed out.

"Are you staying for the day then Tenten?"

"Apparently." She sat down beside Shikamaru and drew her knees up to her chest. "Of course, if you want me to leave you three some time alone… I mean, I wouldn't want to intrude… I probably should go home anyway, get some more clothes…"

"No." Shikamaru said before she could get up.

She looked over at her with concern and slight irritation at the ordering tone in his voice, something he rarely uses with her even in missions.

"He may be a little harsh Tenten, but he's right." Chouji agreed, "You can't go back to your apartment if it's as disastrous as you said. You really aren't intruding."

"Oh, is that why you're here?" Ino caught on. "Don't worry about it Ten-chan. If you need clothes, you're welcome to borrow mine."

"Yeah, that would work." she rolled her eyes sarcastically.

"What?"

"Well, for a start, you are practically half the size of me. Your clothes wouldn't fit someone my size."

"You aren't even remotely fat" Chouji pointed out, making her feel slightly ridiculous for even implying it.

"But still…"

"Do you even own clothes that cover skin Ino?" Shikamaru wondered, noting that even her warm jacket finished barely an inch below her bust line.

"Maybe you should ask Sakura…" Ino suggested, shooting a scolding glare sideways at Shikamaru.

"I'll be fine. It's not the end of the world." Tenten waved off.

"And anyway, you aren't too much of a tomboy to show off your legs once in a while, are you?"

"Not from what we've seen" Chouji winked playfully and sat down with them.

Shikamaru threw a cushion at him in response.

"Ooh, cookies." Ino noticed; short attention span blooming in full. "I am so starving."

"There's more food in the kitchen Ino."

She grinned back at Chouji in response, "Ah, my knight in shining confectionary."

"Back in a bit guys." Chouji told them and lead Ino back to the kitchen.

Tenten turned to Shikamaru, "Did you say anything to him?"

"No, why?"

"I don't know, it just seems to me like he knows more than he should."

"He's probably just joking about. I'd know if he wasn't." he assured her.

"Ok, I trust you." She couldn't help but smile again, "So how long do you think we have?"

"Those two have a very bizarre relationship with food. It may take some time."

"Hmm, I got that impression somehow."

"Why? What did you have in mind?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, nothing… I guess Ino just intimidates me sometimes."

He slowly reached out a hand to hold hers supportingly. "You are ok."

"Just ok?" she put up an expression of disappointment.

"You know I didn't mean it that way."

Giggling, she leant closer to give him a very brief peck on the lips. "I know. I do like to tease though."

"And you know exactly when to stop."

"You know, I'm getting a vague impression here that you are trying to flatter me."

"It's a distinct possibility."

She groaned to herself. "Oh, you should really stop talking like that…"

"Sorry."

"No, it's ok, I just… keep talking like that and I'm afraid I won't do a very good job at acting when the others get here."

"You are right, I know that, but I estimate that we still have a little while left until she finishes eating through Chouji."

"I'm sorry, did I hear that right? Eating _through_ Chouji?"

"Hai, she doesn't eat much herself, but it seems that she can settle her cravings just by watching him eat. Personally I think it sounds obscene, but Chouji doesn't complain, so I just leave them to it."

"That sounds fair I guess. Whatever works for you, right? I mean, I never understood S&M but I've seen how it can actually… I'm going well off track here and I'm sure you probably don't want to hear about things like that…" she flushed and drew her gaze from his eyes, where she found it had lingered for too long.

"I don't mind, I like listening to you speak, for some reason."

"Incoming," she sighed, pulling her hand away from him as she saw the others return.

"… so then she was just rattling off about kami knows what, and to be honest I completely tuned out. It must have been about ten minutes before I realized that I was counting the tea leaves in my cup and she was still talking. It was so embarrassing! Though whether it was more so for me or her is still an unknown mystery. I didn't want to be impolite so I just started nodding at her like a complete imbecile in the vain hope there wouldn't be any questions afterwards. Have you ever been put into a situation like that? I mean seriously…"

"I've heard from others that she is much the same with everyone." Chouji smiled at her, "I think it's safe to say you handled it better than most."

"Do you think she gets a kick out of it or something? Like she just makes up any old crap and spouts it in the most monotonous voice she can manage so that she can gauge people's various reactions."

"Does it really matter?" he asked as he took another bite out of the biscuit in his hand.

Shikamaru signaled for Tenten to watch, and she was amused to find that Ino's eyes were very intensely trained on Chouji's lips as he ate the food. She even let out a barely noticeable sigh when he had finished chewing the mouthful, as though she was lamenting the lack of taste and viewable movement.

She held back a snigger as she looked back at her boyfriend across the sofa, only to attract Ino's attention.

"What are you two smiling about?"

"Just Christmas in general." Shikamaru stated, pushing his voice into a grumble.

"I think I'm going for a walk." Tenten sighed and stood up.

"Do you want someone to come with you?" Shikamaru offered, trying to make it sound as though he was merely attempting to escape Christmas duty.

"Ooh! I'll come!" Ino squealed, "We could go shopping! Clothes shopping! I really wanted a new outfit for Hinata's 21st, and this way, with Tenten staying here and all I can buy something nice for tomorrow too! Yay, this is so awesome!"

Tenten looked at her feet nervously. "Um, shopping? I uh…"

Before she could even finish her sentence, Shikamaru had stood up and handed her a small bundle of notes from his pocket. Knowing almost immediately that she would protest, he spoke up loud enough in his lazy drawl to reach the others. "You left your money at your apartment, right? Just pay me back when you can."

"Shikamaru I… arigato." She nodded her thanks before Ino grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the door, barely giving her enough time to put her shoes on.

**AN: feedback pleshies. **

**Soppy rubbish mostly. I was going to add more to this, but I can't be bothered, quite frankly.**

**I have to say a few things. Firstly, if you have a deviantart account, please check out mine, where you will find a new bit of fanfic writing I did which has a link to the story later on. Or rather, the link is there now, but you'd have to be Shikamaru to figure it out. **

**Secondly, please check out Kelso The Great. Ish's fanfiction, "Hokage Quiz". She's on my precious list and needs the luff spreading. Read it and review it NOW! (Hint towards the reason for my insanity at suggesting you read a non-Tenten fan's fic 'Kelso' / 'Kelli'. There's a link there which has frell all to do with HTML.) **

**Give me a few weeks and I will have a wonderful picky of Team Nara all polished up for public viewing, so watch this space.**

**Next chapter, Christmas crap probably… any suggestions?**

**RULE 1: If you don't like it- give me **_**constructive**_** criticism, not just 'I don't like this', or don't say anything at all**

**RULE 2: If you do like it, review, show the luff**

**RULE 3: If you do, or you are even not sure, go and visit my writing website: www . Freewebs . com /belizma-kelli (delete spaces)**

**Stay shiny and show the luff**

**Belizma-chan**


	8. Style

**AN: It has been a while, and I apologize for that. I can't guarantee this will be the first of many, partially because I don't really have the time or patience, and partially because the cogs are ticking atm for 'Hokage-Sensei'.**

**It's quite an uneventful chapter, and no fantastic cliffhanger I don't think, but it sets a few things up for later. I promise that the next chapter will be longer, and will see the return of Nobu, along with the plot he'll bring with him.**

**Disclaimers apply as usual.**

Average- Style

"I am so glad we are doing this." Ino grinned as she dragged her by the arm around the small winding streets that covered the Konoha shopping district. "I've had an itch for days to come out shopping and Sakura is just permanently set to busy at the moment. There's a boutique just down here that opened about a months ago and it genuinely is a real gem; I swear if I would have gone another two days without spending something in there I would have exploded."

"You can't go shopping on your own?" Tenten wondered, having only ever gone near shops on her own, and usually for 'groceries'.

"Heavens no." Ino laughed at her as she bounced off own another alley. "You can't just go shopping by yourself, that's beyond tragic. That'd be about equal to drinking on your own."

Should she have been given the opportunity, she would have been shuffling her feet uncomfortably by now, but at the pace the blond was setting, one misplaced foot could send her flying into a shop window. She couldn't help thinking to herself that Sakura must have some kind of physic link to this girl to have been able to cope with her for as long as she had, especially as Ino jolted her left into a doorway without any warning.

Adjusting her eyesight to a slower pace, she narrowly avoided the painted door as it sung back towards her and slipped into the shockingly pink shop warily. The whole place smelled like girls, causing her almost immediately to glance down and checked the extent of soreness her thumb-like nature against the background. She definitely did not belong here.

"What's the matter?" Ino peered back at her, seemingly unaware of her disorientation.

"Um… I've kind of… never been shopping like this. I'm afraid I'm not likely to be much help."

"Nonsense," she smirked back at her. "You have eyes, and I know for a fact that you can't be nearly as much of a tomboy as everyone makes out, despite your dress sense."

"What's wrong with the way I dress?"

"Oh, nothing, providing your intention is just to be training for the rest of your life. What do you usually wear when you go out to bars, or to parties?" She asked as she wandered over to one of the metal rails set out in the shop, pushing her way through wads of hung fabric.

"I just wear this. It's more or less all I have."

Ino paused for a second in shock, before returning to her intent shopping. "You've been wearing that same style of top, if not that same exact top, since you were 17. It barely even fits you anymore, never mind suits you. You're almost as bad as Shikamaru."

Trying not to get too riled up by the steady stream of insults, Tenten sighed and glanced around for a distraction while Ino continued to lecture her as though she was actually a friend.

"Well, I for one will not stand for anyone I come out with in public to be in such a terrible state of- oh dear kami, that is so cute!" Distracted, she had discarded her previous sentence in favor of a short sprint to a glass counter by the side of the curtained dressing rooms at the rear of the store.

Picking up a small hair clip, she poised herself in front of one of the many mirrors within reach as she held it against her long fringe. Excitedly, she turned to face the bemused Tenten, obviously expecting an opinion.

"Um… very cute." Her reply was limited, not really able to see much more than a glint off the sparkly surface of the tiny clip, but it seemed to satisfy Ino as she spun again, a wide smile on her face.

"You should get one of these…" She began, but then re-thought as she looked carefully at Tenten's hair from a few different angles. "On second thought, no, it wouldn't suit your hair type at all. When did you stop doing those bun things?"

"About the same time I joined ANBU. Shikamaru pointed out the logic of how much time it would save for me to just tie my hair up like this."

"It's long, isn't it? Do you ever wear it down?"

"No, it's just not practical."

Ino sighed heavily in disappointment. "Screw practical. Humor me."

"You want me to take my hair down?" Tenten lifted an eyebrow at her, only to receive an eager nod. Reluctantly, she dragged her fingers through her hair, pulling out the elastic band with a painful tug, releasing her hair to fall softly over her back.

"Tenten, wow, there is actually a woman under there." Ino grinned, reaching forwards to fiddle with the few hairs which had fallen down messily. "Ok, I'm banning you from ponytails or buns until you stop staying at Shika and Chouji's; which by the way is incredibly odd. Are you sure you don't want to come and bunk at my place?"

"I'm sure Ino. I don't feel un-comfortable with the guys."

"It's Chouji's food, isn't it? I don't blame you. It's the only reason I put up with Shikamaru's griping." She returned to browsing the rails absent-mindedly.

Tenten mostly ignored the first comment, knowing well enough that her reason for staying there had nothing to do with the food. "You don't spend nearly as much time criticizing Shikamaru as you used to."

"There's no point. At first I just thought that if I could get him laid he would stop lying around in fields all day, but seriously, if he hasn't managed by now then he is already a lost cause."

"Managed not lying in fields?"

Ino laughed. "No, getting laid. He's completely hopeless."

Tenten struggled to hold back her shock. "You mean he's… he's still…"

"How could you not know that?"

"Well… I knew he'd never had a girlfriend, but I never thought… I guess I can't understand why…" Catching herself quickly, she turned to pretend she was looking through the rails herself. "Never mind, just ignore me."

She could feel Ino's gaze on her, so she came up with the best she could to change the subject. "So, what exactly is Hinata doing for her 21st?"

"You aren't invited?"

"I haven't had anything to do with the Hyuuga's for years." She pointed out emotionlessly.

"I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you were there. We're only heading out to a local bar for a few hours, and Neji isn't even going to be there. If you're hanging around Shikamaru for a few days then it only makes sense."

"Are you saying that because you are bullying him into going or because you think it would be easier to make him go if I had agreed?"

"Neither, he's going anyway. Thanks to the mission ban, it'll be the first time in years that everyone can actually be together. I think he's looking forward to catching up with his old crowd."

"Oh, he's friendly with a few others from the academy?"

"Absolutely. There was a core of them who were always getting into trouble with Iruka-sensei. Chouji is the same."

She laughed in disbelief, "Chouji, a troublemaker?"

"Well, where one goes, the other follows." She smiled, a hint of pride in her voice as she thought about her old teammates, two people she remembered hating when their team was decided but had since become as close to her as anyone. "I'm going to go try a few things on. I won't be long."

She had disappeared before Tenten could even reply, clothes bundled high as she dumped them onto one arm and retreated to one of the curtained booths. Finally having a chance to be alone, she dipped her hand curiously into her pocket to retrieve the stash of notes Shikamaru had given her before she had been dragged out.

To her relief there were not too many of them in the small bundle, so she wouldn't feel too pressured to pay it back. As she scanned through them, she also noted that a slip of paper was folded into the wad and curiously withdrew it, placing the notes back into her pocket. Scribbled onto the paper in his lazy scrawl was a brief message for her:

'Miu'-

Beautiful feather

(Heavenly)

Amused by the etymological pun she smirked to herself before folding the paper back up and slipping it into her bra, where she knew only he would be able to find it. The timing was perfect as the very second she let her hand drop to her side, Ino emerged again form the changing room.

"That was quick." She commented.

"It comes with practice." Ino beamed back as she slotted the hangers back into position on the rail closest to her. "Find anything?"

"No, not really."

"Ok, let me just buy that clip and I'll take you somewhere a little more your style."

* * *

Chouji looked over at his best friend with wonder, trying to figure out what exactly was going through his genius mind. As ever, this was a complete impossibility, as his mind could only ever equal his when stood in front of a fridge.

Usually at this time of year, Shikamaru was positively miserable, desperate to have the 'troublesome' holiday over and done with. He'd spend half of his time griping about the weather stopping him from lying outside as much, the other half he would be complaining about having to buy gifts for people he didn't even like.

He would rarely be seen, as was now the case, sitting away from the window with his fingers clasped in thought. He would rarely be seen to do that on any day of the year unless a mission was involved, and not even Chouji could believe that he would be thinking about work now, despite his Yule-time reluctance.

Actually, the way he seemed to stare at the decorations in front of his seemed to hint that he was actually thinking about Christmas, and with a smile. _Must be the cinnamon…_ he mused, but couldn't quite manage to leave it alone.

Placing the last of the cookies he had made that morning into their dedicated tin on the small table he had set up, he wandered over to study Shikamaru's expression closely. If he didn't know any better he would think that he had fallen asleep, from the peaceful set on his features.

"Uh… Shikamaru?"

Without moving an inch, Shikamaru turned his eyes to his friend. "Yeah Choj, what is it?"

"You're kind of… being odd."

"Am I? Sorry, I didn't realize."

Cautiously, Chouji sat down beside him on the sofa. "What are you doing?"

His hands moved back to rest on his knees with a sigh. "Chouji… if there was someone close to you…"

Knowing Shikamaru, there was only ever one thing that being 'close' could mean, and Chouji's mind immediately slipped into panic. "There isn't anyone like that!"

A hint of his usual smirk slipped as he watched him blush. "Ok Choj, but if there was… but you don't usually do things like it, would you think you should buy them something?"

"Do you think I should?" He wondered, almost certain that Shikamaru was talking about Ino.

"Well, isn't that what people say? I'm no expert at all, and I know it's probably too late to do anything about it anyway, but I was just thinking."

"You were just thinking? That's not like you."

"I know."

"Or rather, it's not like you now. You used to do it a lot before you were a jounin." Chouji smiled, remembering their time as kids together. "You want something to eat?"

"Not right now." He sighed again and went back to staring at the Christmas decorations.

"I suppose you're right. The others should come back soon. We can eat while we sort the tree."

"I'm sure Ino would like that."

Thinking about it, Chouji felt blood rush to his face all over again. _He definitely knows. He probably told Tenten too, after all of their smirking and giggling this morning. 'Just Christmas in general' my chubby ass! If I don't stop blushing like this though everyone will know and she'll never speak to me again._

He tried to change the subject to spare him the embarrassment. "It's nice having Tenten here, don't you think?"

If Shikamaru could have been any stiller than he was, he would have frozen solid. "You don't mind it Chouji?"

"Why would I? It's not like she's disruptive or anything. You know, I actually think you two cancel each other out."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, people are always saying that she can be a little 'hell hath no fury' at times, when she's not training like a ROOT operative, but she doesn't seem like that at all. Might have just been the rumors, but you don't complain nearly as much when she's about either, so it could just be your teammates thing."

Shikamaru nodded in thought. "I hope Ino doesn't drive her too far. She can be a little easy to provoke."

"I'm sure she can take care of herself. Ino's not really as bad as she seems once you get used to her." He grinned stupidly.

Timing hit a fantastic high note as the blond hurtled through the front door, loaded to the armpits in bags from her outing. "Hey guys! You better have somewhere I can hide away for a while because oh do I have some fantastic presents for you!"

Chouji stood up immediately to face her. "You bought presents? We never do presents."

"So wasn't my idea." Tenten sighed from behind her and walked straight through to Shikamaru's bedroom before he could ever see her.

Ino's grin didn't diminish as she bounced off to follow her. "I guess we are going in here then. Shika-kun, don't come near your room ok? Oh… Chouji, please tell me you haven't eaten already, I'm ravishing."

"I'll go cook something now." He nodded with a nervous smile and she disappeared from view. Turning to Shikamaru, he noticed that he hadn't really moved. "They are up to something."

"No." Shikamaru corrected him as he stood up to head towards the kitchen. "Ino is up to something. Tenten's just gone in there to give us some breathing time."

Following him through to find him getting out chopping boards from the cupboard, Chouji started to find things to cook again. "How did you know she was going to buy presents? You knew right? That's why you said it…"

He shrugged and took his usual seat in the corner of the kitchen. "I just had a feeling Choj."

"What are we going to do about it?"

"Just cook Chouji. It'll be enough to keep Ino happy. Either way if she's this exited over presents, they will more than likely be presents for her really."

"Oh… like that stupid hat she bought Sakura so she could mock her?"

"Exactly like that."

By the time Chouji had finished cooking what turned out to just be a 'this and that' meal of snacks, the girls had finished whatever it was Ino had schemed for them, so they all re-entered the main room at the same time. Shikamaru, barely paying any attention, slumped back down on the sofa.

Placing the plates he had balanced up his arms down on the table, Chouji looked over them both and their obviously brand new outfits with a smile. "You two look nice."

Ino beamed. "I know. I'm so glad we went out today. Seriously though, can you believe that Tenten actually has a figure?"

Observing Tenten's apparent will to sink into oblivion as soon as possible, Chouji just laughed it off. "It certainly is different."

"It's just a shame that she wouldn't wear what I tried to put her in. She would have looked pretty amazing if you ask me."

Hating the attention, Tenten scowled and went to sit down next to Shikamaru. "Hell will freeze over before you get me in a skirt without paying me first."

"Anymore plates you need bringing out Chouji?" Ino asked sweetly, ignoring Tenten's comment.

"Sure." He grinned and they soon disappeared again.

Curiously, Shikamaru's eyes slipped sideways, causing him to sharply take in a breath as he looked at her. Tenten had her long hair loose over her shoulders, which were left partially exposed by the soft dark red jumper she had on, the slight natural curl brought out by the damp winter air. Even with her legs pulled up to her chest, it was obvious that the woolen garment clung to all the right places to emphasize her torso's curves.

Biting her lip, she was staring back at him by the time his eyes had found their way back to her face. "Thanks."

He smirked back at her. "I hadn't gotten around to complementing you yet."

"No, I meant… thanks." She signaled at her outfit, obviously meaning to thank him for the money. "But… thanks."

"Oh," was about all he managed to let out before the others came back into the room and Ino flooded the apartment with noise.

"Itadakimasu!"

**AN: feedback pleshies. ^_^ **

**RULE 1: If you don't like it- give me **_**constructive**_** criticism, not just 'I don't like this', or don't say anything at all**

**RULE 2: If you do like it, review, show the luff**

**RULE 3: If you do, or you are even not sure, go and visit my writing website: www . Freewebs . com /belizma-kelli (delete spaces)**

**Stay shiny and show the luff**

**Belizma-chan**


End file.
